Annette Bening Children: Facts About Her Sons And Daughters

Annette Bening is a successful woman in all ramifications. She has shown that with proper planning, dedication and the right dose of talent, a woman can have a successful home and career simultaneously. She is an award-winning actress, a loving wife, and a dedicated mother. Annette Bening’s children are a testament to this fact.

The actress is popular for her career on the stage and has received two Tony Award nominations for Best Featured Actress in 1987 and 2019 respectively. She has also earned various prestigious award nominations and wins for her film roles, including a BAFTA Award, SAGS, Golden Globe Awards, and Primetime Emmy Award all in the category of Best Actress. Additionally, she has won 26 of her 93 nominations in her career, indeed, she is really a joy to behold on screen.

Biography Of Annette Bening

She was born Annette Carol Bening in Topeka, Kansas, the U.S. on the 29th of May, 1958. Her parents – Arnett Grant and Shirley Katherine Bening raised her and her 3 siblings in Wichita, Kansas and San Diego California. She is the youngest child of her parents and was doted upon.

Annette attended Patrick Henry High School where her venture into acting began in her Junior High School where she took the lead in The Sound of Music. After high school, she took a break from schooling and spent a year working as a cook in a charter boat that takes fishing parties out on the Pacific Ocean. For college, she proceeded to San Diego Mesa College and finished her Theatre Arts degree from San Francisco State University.

Her acting career began on stage. She was with the Colorado Shakespeare Festival Company and was also a member of the American Conservatory Theater, San Francisco when she was studying acting as part of the Advanced Theatre Training Program. For her Broadway debut, it took off in Coastal Disturbances (1987) for which she got a Tony Award nomination. Her film debut was in 1988, in The Great Outdoors.

Some of her significant film projects include; The Grifters (1990) which is considered her breakout piece and earned her an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress, Love Affairs (1994), The American President (1995), Mars Attacks (1996), The Siege (1998), American Beauty (1999), In Dreams (1999), Being Julia (2004), Mrs Harris (2005), Running with Scissors (2006), Mother and Child (2009), The Kids Are All Right (2010), 20th Century Women (2016), Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool (2017). She returned to the Broadway in 2019, starring in a revival of Arthur Miller’s All My Sons.

Married Life

Her first marriage was to James Steven White from 1984 to 1991. She then met her current husband – Warren Beatty who had the reputation of being a serial bachelor in 1991. They met while filming Bugsy – a Barry Levinson’s biopic in which he co-starred. He asked her out to dinner towards the end of the filming and the rest became history. They got married in 1992 and have since welcomed four children.

The couple has four children and describes them as the best thing that has ever happened to them. Their children include Kathlyn – now Stephen born 1992, Benjamin born 1994, Isabel born 1997 and Ella born 2000. They have also tried as much as possible to shield their children from media scrutiny. As Annette Bening once shared in an interview, it is difficult having two popular parents and they try as much as possible to leave their children out of their media entanglements until the kids are grown and can decide otherwise. It is worth mentioning that all their children have followed their parents’ footsteps and ventured into acting asides Stephen who is a writer. Here are some facts about her children.

Facts About Annette Bening’s Children – Sons And Daughters

1. Their first child is a transgender. She was born a girl Kathlyn but came out as transgender when she was 14 years old. She is now known and referred to as Stephen after undergoing her sex changing operation. It was reported that Annette and her husband, in particular, struggled with the revelation initially but have come to accept and respect their kid’s life choices. Annette Bening also revealed that it has opened up a new experience for the whole family which she is happy to learn from. Stephen is now an artist and writer.

2. Her other son – Benjamin has turned to his parents acting profession and has appeared in some film projects.

3. Their daughter – Isabel, made her debut in the 2014 debutante ball and was of course accompanied and chaperoned by her mother. She seems to have taken to acting too and has appeared in a handful of films. She is also a writer.

4. Among Annette Bening’s children, her youngest child – Ella has also taken to the stage, just like her mother. She is currently in The Juilliard School.